DRONES. 



144 



DRONES. 



atory of the foregoing;. Mr. Paisons was 

 well known as a man of probity and honor. 

 He was the introducer of the Italian bee 

 into this country, 

 lie says [American Bee Journal): 



One fact in our last siimmer's expcrieiico will in- 

 tiTcstthe readers of the Jounial. Tlie copulation 

 (if an Italian rlroti'i and queen, upon the wing-, was 

 witnessed in my apiary by Mr. Cary and Mr. Otis. 

 They saw the queen issue from the hive, and circle 

 round, when tlie drone struck her (both being upon 

 the wing). A sharp snap ensued; the drone fell to 

 the ground, and was picked up dead. The queen 

 fell in the grass, ro.se again, and entered the hive 

 Mr. Cary soon .searched for her, found the workers 

 (•leaning her off, and the male organs attached to 

 hor body. 



Tiater Mr. Cary related his own account 

 of the occurrence, which we submit in his 

 own words: 



About three o'clock p. m., on the 8th of July, I saw 

 a young Italian queen enter her hive without any 

 sign of impregnation She came out again in a few 

 minutes, and I closed the entrance to the hive. 

 During her absence, which lasted thirteen minutes, 

 three drones came in front of the hive, and, finding 

 1 he entrance closed, kept on the wing most of the 

 time. When the returning queen was about three 

 feet from the entrance, one of the drones very rap- 

 idly flew to her, and, clasping his legs about her, 

 caused her to settle a little to come in contact with 

 a long spear of grass. At the same time an e.rp!o- 

 siori was distinctly heard, and they immediately sep- 

 arated—the drone falling to the ground perfectly 

 dead, and having his abdomen very much contract- 

 ed. The queen, after making a few circles in the 

 air, entered the hive with the male organs of the 

 drone attached to her. All these facts were wit- 

 nessed by myself and Mr. R. C. Otis, of Kenosha, 

 Wis , as we were seated on opposite sides of the 

 hive, not more than six feet apart, so that there can 

 be no possible ground of mistake. 



In later times a correspondent in Olcan- 

 ings in Bee Culture thus describes the act: 



M.XTINO OF THE QUEEN AND DRONE ON THE WING, 

 AS SEEN BY AN EYE-WITNESS. 



On .June 21, 1888. I saw this mating take place. 

 The ((ueen issued from the hive, took two circles 

 and came within five feet of my face, and was there 

 met by a drone. They seemed to face each other, 

 clinging by their fore legs, their bodies being per- 

 pendicular, and in this shape tlew from my sight. It 

 happened so unexpectedly that I hardly knew what 

 was going on before it was too late to follow them. 

 I could have easily kept up with them. I have de- 

 scribed this because your book says they have not 

 been seen, only as they were whirling about each 

 other. I saw these fasten; and as they did so they 

 turned and came together, square up and down; 

 and as they flew away their bodies inclined about 

 like this /, and each bee was vising ils wings. 



Myrtle, Pa. E. A. Pratt. 



Shortly after this another correspondent 

 reported the one thing yet unobserved; viz., 

 the manner of separation of the queen and 

 drone. He described it as follows : 



AN EYE-WITNESS TO THE QUEEN'S SEPARATION 

 EKOiM THE DRONE AFTER MATING. 



I was going out to my bees one day, when two bees 

 came whirling down in front of me and fell on to a 

 pumpkin leaf. It proved to be a queen and drone. 

 The drone acted as if he had been stung by a work- 

 er. He held fa.st to the leaf with his feet, and the 

 queen kept whirling over and over, about as a Hy 

 would if caught in a spider's web, until she freed 

 herself, then .she flew out of sight in an instant, and 

 the drone remained where he was on the leaf, but 

 showed life for only about three minutes. 



Onawa City, Iowa. S. R. Fletcher. 



The late E. L. Pratt, of Swarthmore, Pa., 

 a queen- breeder of note, in Gleanings in Bee 

 Culture for 1904 thus wrote: 



I have this day witnessed the act of copulation 

 betweenaqueen and adrone About 2 :.30 o'clock on 

 the afternoon of Thursday, July 21, I was standing- 

 near a fertilizing-box filling a feeder when my atten- 

 tion was attracted liy an unusual commotion in the 

 way of extra loud buzzing, as of drones on the wing. 

 I looked and saw a queen rapidly flying toward the 

 fertilizing-box, evidently her home. She was close- 

 Ij' followed by two drones, one of which turned and 

 flew off, hut the other remained in pursuit. They 

 were flying not six inches from the ground, and 

 were not over eight feet from the fertilizing-box 

 when the act took place. It was done so quickly 

 that I marveled at it, and I wish here to record the 

 facts as I witnessed them. I could not see that the 

 queen -was flying in any but the usual way when re- 

 turning to her hive, but the drone was unusually 

 swift of wing. They were both flying rapidly; and 

 as they flew the drone made two circles about the 

 queen as though to head her off; and as these circles 

 were made about the queen she rose slightly each 

 time. Directly after making the second circle about 

 the queen the drone flew at her as a worker flies 

 with the intention of stinging in earnest. His abdo- 

 men was curved, and his wings rattled in about the 

 same manner. Directly tlie drone was in contact 

 with the queen there was a sudden lurch sidewise, 

 and they went together some distance into the field 

 initil I lost sight of them. As they flew together 

 they much resembled workers when they attempt 

 jointly to bear off their dead. I remained by the fer- 

 tilizing-box perhaps three minutes, and saw the 

 queen return and enter, bearing the marks of ha\- 

 ing met a drone. I still lingered by the box, and 

 soon saw a worker bear out the tell-tale white speck. 

 I later opened the box, and saw the queen bearing 

 the usual thread from male contact. A queen-bee 

 is very swift of wing; but I am convinced that a 

 drone is ten times swifter; for to be able to encircle 

 the queen in the manner this one did, such must be 

 the fact. 



In the fall of 1876 we saw a swarm of black 

 ants sporting in the sunshine. A close look 

 showed them to be both males and females; 

 and as pair after pair fell to the ground, we 

 had ample opportunity of noting all circum- 

 stances. In this case the drones at first 

 seemed paralyzed; bttt after the queens flew 

 away, they revived and subsequently flew 

 away also. One point here particttlarly im- 

 pressed me : The ants of both sexes were in 

 such countless thousands that they must have 



